DLA Piper announced today that Matthew Murphy has joined the Bankruptcy and Restructuring group as a partner in the Chicago office. Prior to joining DLA Piper, Murphy was counsel with Skadden, Arps, Slate, Meager & Flom LLP.

Murphy focuses his practice on advising clients in complex business reorganizations, debt restructurings and troubled company M&A. He has counseled both public and private clients through Chapter 11 restructuring initiatives, the purchase of or investment in distressed companies, the sale of distressed assets and post-petition lending strategies. 

Murphy joins the other restructuring partners joining DLA Piper this year, including the recent arrival of his former Skadden colleagues Chris Dickerson and Gregg Galardi, as well as Craig Rasile and Andrew Zaron who joined the firm’s Miami office from Hunton & Williams, Stuart Brown who joined as managing partner of the firm’s Wilmington office, and the team of five restructuring partners, led by Richard A. Chesley, who joined the practice in Chicago. 

  

“Matt brings a well-regarded and multi-faceted practice to our growing restructuring platform,” said Gregg Galardi, co-chair of DLA Piper’s Restructuring practice. “We know Matt well and, beyond his significant Chapter 11 experience, his work representing financial institutions and other strategic purchasers of distressed assets in in-court and out-of-court proceedings will deepen our expertise in that part of the firm’s restructuring practice.”

Among the clients he has represented include Access Industries in its role backstopping a $2.8 billion rights offering for Lyondell Chemical Company; Black Diamond Capital Management LLC in its acquisition of the assets of White Birch Paper Company, as well as its acquisition of the assets of Werner Ladder; and National Steel Corporation, one of the largest integrated steel producers in the United States, during its Chapter 11 case and sale of assets to US Steel. He has also represented Bank of America, Black Diamond Commercial Finance and Morgan Stanley as debtor-in-possession lenders.

“Building on the arrival of Chris Dickerson and the group led by Rick Chesley, Matt’s sophisticated restructuring practice will be a nice complement to the needs of the firm’s corporate practice as clients continue to navigate the uncertainties of the current economy,” said Michael Poulos, co-managing partner of DLA Piper’s Chicago office.  

Murphy earned a J.D. from the University of Michigan Law School and a B.A. from the University of Michigan.